How Can a Key Lab that Brings Together "Top Brains" Help Achieve Carbon Neutrality?

Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory is one of the four key laboratories of the Sichuan Tianfu Laboratory. Its main function is to serve as the crucial platform for the research on key core technologies in the field of green and low-carbon. In the future, the Laboratory will undertake an important responsibility to solve the stranglehold technical problems of carbon neutrality. Focusing on the core goal of "carbon neutrality +", it will become the leading source of carbon neutrality technology innovation and the engine of industrial development by contributing to the agglomeration development and demonstration diffusion of green industries.

To achieve carbon neutrality, we need the support of cutting-edge technologies.

Last week, many academicians and experts gathered by Xinglong Lake in Tianfu New Area that initially committed to a Park City concept, to witness the establishment of the Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory.

This also marks a solid step forward in building independent innovation capacity in the field of carbon peak and carbon neutrality in Sichuan Province. Since then, a high-level innovation platform has been established for building an important source of advanced green and low-carbon technological innovation in China.

Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory is one of the four key laboratories of the Sichuan Tianfu Laboratory. Its main function is to serve as the crucial platform for the research on key core technologies in the field of green and low-carbon.

In the future, the Laboratory will undertake an important responsibility to solve the stranglehold technical problems of carbon neutrality. Focusing on the core goal of "carbon neutrality +", it will become the leading source of carbon neutrality technology innovation and the engine of industrial development by contributing to the agglomeration development and demonstration diffusion of green industries.

A key laboratory focusing on "carbon neutrality +"

In October 2019, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) clearly pointed out that we will boost China’s strength in strategic science and technology and improve the system of national laboratories.

In recent years, provinces have built "pioneers" of national strategic deployment at the local level by building key laboratories. Through deep study in technological innovation for an experimental field that has never been explored before, we will reach the core field of frontier crossover and strategy of scientific and technological innovation. Tianfu Laboratory is a typical case.

With the opening of Tianfu Laboratory and Tianfu Xinglong Lake Laboratory in June 2022, Western China (Chengdu) Science City and Tianfu Laboratory have entered a new stage from planning and layout to comprehensive construction. As an important part of Western China (Chengdu) Science City and the Tianfu Laboratory system, Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory will focus on the pioneer and trump card in the field of "carbon neutrality +" in the future.

In terms of the research directions, the Laboratory focuses on zero-carbon energy, carbon neutrality, and geothermal energy and carbon fixation. In addition, eight cutting-edge research centers, including zero-carbon energy systems, polymer carbon neutrality, and geothermal resources development will be established; three major industrial areas of clean energy, environmental protection equipment, and green building materials will be empowered.

According to Zhang Yuanhang, Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) Academician and director of Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory, the area of zero-carbon energy mainly includes research on hydrogen energy, green natural gas, and green transportation technology; carbon neutrality involves such research as biomass zero-carbon utilization, zero-carbon fuel, and pollution reduction and carbon reduction; and geothermal energy and carbon fixation mainly study carbon fixation and ecological restoration, and development and utilization of geothermal energy. Industrial research and smart energy systematic platform of carbon neutrality will provide relevant "soft science" services.

Why does Sichuan focus on building this carbon neutrality + laboratory now?

At the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2020, China formally announced that it will peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

In terms of schedule, China’s commitment to moving from carbon peak to carbon neutrality is in a much shorter time span than what might take many developed countries. This also shows China's determination to achieve the goal of green, low-carbon, and high-quality development.

With the increasingly clear low-carbon development path, the thinking and mode of industrial development will also have profound changes. The power of low carbon will surely become a powerful catalyst and accelerate a new round of technological and industrial revolution.

Achieving the dual carbon goals ultimately depends on science and technology. Scientific and technological innovation should not only support the improvement of dual carbon technology but also provide services for the upgrading of industrial chains and value chains. That is why countries around the world regard scientific and technological innovation as an important guarantee for the realization of carbon neutrality.

In this context, Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory came into being.

"Achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality is a complex and systematic project. Low-carbon, zero-carbon, and negative-carbon technologies will be the key to the future global industrial revolution and technological competition," said Zhang Yuanhang.

A smart platform that gathers "top brains"

The High-end innovation platform is a stage for top brains.

At present, one of the major characteristics of provincial laboratories is the deep participation of local national scientific research institutes, research universities, and leading enterprises in the industry.

The research direction of the carbon neutrality of Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory is led by Sichuan University and jointly constructed by domestic enterprises, universities, and research institutions, with Shi Bi, Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) Academician, as the chief scientist.

On this basis, three research centers are established for the research direction of carbon neutrality. Academician Shi Bi leads the research center for biomass zero-carbon utilization; Academician Wang Qi and Wang Yuzhong are in charge of the research center for polymer carbon neutralization, and Professor Jiang Xia manages the research center for zero-carbon fuel, pollution reduction, and carbon reduction.

Leading talent is the key to breaking through cutting-edge science and core technologies. The gathering of academicians and experts is a distinctive feature of Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory. Currently, experts joining the Laboratory include He Kebin, Xu Weilin, Duo Ji, Shi Bi, Wang Yuzhong, and Wang Qi, which are all academicians of CAE; Lei Xianzhang, academician of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering; Pei Xiangjun, academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

CAE Academician Shi Bi revealed that carbon neutrality realizes the transformation from underground fossil resources to secondary surface resources by strengthening the utilization of biomass resources such as straw and waste polymers such as plastics and carbon dioxide.

Many local scientific research institutes in Sichuan Province have also deeply participated in the construction of the Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory. Zhao Jinzhou, president of Southwest Petroleum University (SWPU), highlighted the large-scale science installation of the key system for hydrogen production and utilization from in-situ underground gasification of oil reserves. He said that it will be a disruptive technology for the green conversion and utilization of oil and gas fossil energy, and currently, SWPU is one of two institutions that conduct research on and master this technology in the world.

Following the Laboratory's planning, the global pioneer and the world's first large-scale science installation for hydrogen production and utilization from in-situ underground gasification of oil reserves will be established, helping China seize the high ground and voice of green hydrogen production of oil and gas fossil energy in the world and lead the new pattern of green transformation and utilization of oil and gas fossil energy.

According to Liu Qingyou, President of the Chengdu University of Technology, the Sichuan Basin has the largest recoverable hydrothermal geothermal resources in China, equivalent to about 544 million tons of standard coal, accounting for 32% of the large and medium-sized basins in China. There are more than 15,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in the Sichuan Basin, with an average depth of 2,000-3,500 meters and a temperature of 80-130°C. They have good potential for heating and power generation and can make these wells profitable for geothermal energy development.

"In addition, because the heat source comes from inside the earth, geothermal energy generation does not need additional fuel. Therefore, it can save a lot of fossil fuels and effectively reduce greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide," added Liu Qingyou.

Notably, Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory aims to achieve "carbon neutrality +". This "plus" (+) means not only the participation of industries but also the capital. Different from conventional laboratories, participants of the Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory not only have scientific research such as universities and institutes, but also many key enterprises, including State Power Investment Corporation, State Grid Corporation of China, Dongfang Electric Corporation, Tongwei Group, Haitian Water Group, Yuncong Technology, Chengdu Environmental Investment Group, and Tianfu Investment Group. In doing so, we can see the future technology application scenarios, seize opportunities for industrial cooperation and benefit from capital support.

An innovation engine to upgrade the "park city" level

As an important carrier of strategic and forward-looking scientific research, provincial laboratories can further gather diversified innovative factors such as capital, technology, talent, information, and data.

In February 2018, the concept "park city" was proposed in Tianfu New Area, Sichuan Province. In the process of promoting urban construction, the guiding ideology of developing Tianfu New Area has been "taking ecological value into account"  and with an insistence on the strategic direction and development path of "ecological priority and green development".

With the release of the Master Plan for the Construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle (Master Plan), the future development objectives of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle have been very clear. It aims to build itself into a strong twin-city economic circle with distinctive characteristics and to create an important growth pole and a new power source for the high-quality development of the whole country.

Fan Hengshan, former Deputy Secretary-General of the National Development and Reform Commission, pointed out in his article that the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle should make greater efforts to promote institutional innovation, provide creative ways in the fields of science and technology and management, and optimize the development environment. At the same time, we should actively apply brand strategy, cooperation mechanism, test platform, indicator system, and other effective measures, thus forming strong demonstration and guidance to build a twin-city economic circle into an important growth pole for high-quality development in China.

For the park city Tianfu New Area, it is the right time to make efforts to break through the key laboratory of "carbon neutrality +" and explore green development pilot in-depth driven by national strategic opportunities such as the state-level new area and the construction of Chengdu-Chongqing Economic circle. 

Under the guidance of the new development philosophy and the new regional development pattern, the competitiveness of regional development has been gradually upgraded and extended from the original leading enterprises to the major scientific and technological innovation and basic scientific and technological research. More and more regions are striving to achieve objectives that improve the industrial level and gain the first-mover advantage through major basic research results.

Therefore, provincial laboratories such as Tianfu Laboratory are not only at the forefront to promote the integration of basic research, applied basic research, and industrialization, but also an important avenue for the region to take a leading position in scientific and technological competition.

From the perspective of global regional development law, the strongest driving force of regional development depends on science and technology innovation, which can be proved in London, Silicon Valley, Tokyo Tsukuba Science City, Beijing Zhongguancun, and Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai. Only by taking a leading position in scientific and technological innovation, we can realize the aggregation of global high-end factors and resources, upgrade the industrial chain and value chain, and continuously improve the development potential.

If Sichuan, a major province with abundant clean energy resources, can seize this opportunity, make full use of scientific and technological innovation capability and industrial foundation in related fields, and build a technology industrial chain for carbon neutrality, which is urgently needed by the country, through effective integration of enterprises, universities, research institutes, and government branches. In doing so, it can not only ensure the realization of the dual carbon goals, but also promote the development of a set of emerging industries, and take a leading position in the competition of green and low-carbon industries.

According to one of the officials of Tianfu New Area mentioned earlier, "as an important engine for the high-quality development in the province, Tianfu New Area will focus on strengthening the comprehensive carrying capacity for the strategic platform of the state-level new areas, shoulder the primer responsibility of the strategic scientific and technological force, and play a leading role in the critical period that the province advances innovation-driven strategy on high-quality development."

In the near future, we believed that Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory, as a pioneer of "carbon neutrality" research, will bring more achievements and surprises to the realization of "dual carbon" goals and green and high-quality development in China.

[ By Li meiqiang from National Business Daily ]